


Whispers of Mortality

by BestHandwriting



Category: Aldnoah.Zero (Anime)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-26
Updated: 2015-09-26
Packaged: 2018-04-23 12:16:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4876474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BestHandwriting/pseuds/BestHandwriting
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An outstretched hand and a risky plan couldn’t save them this time. They impacted too hard against the shore.</p><p>It’s too late to save either of them now.</p><p>-<br/>The bad end to Slaine and Inaho's fight in Episode 24 that no one wanted.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Whispers of Mortality

_Impossible. It can’t be done._

Inaho should have listened to Slaine’s words.

He can barely move now, can barely  _breathe_ , and when he manages either, pain stabs through him. Even worse, metallic blood trickles into his mouth. He tries to spit it out, but he end up coughing more up instead.

It’s not much use, doing anything. He’s bleeding from his forehead, and his lungs will fail him soon enough. More wounds litter his body, but he has long since given up identify them.

He has no reason to do anything now but let death claim him.

Even the greatest of heroes have to fall at some point, make a horrible mistake or miscalculation. The thought doesn’t amend his failure, but it’s a small reassurance he’ll take to the grave.

A weak moan startles him from his thoughts. Through the ruins of the kataphrakts, he can make out Slaine’s form, sprawled across what might have formed the cockpit. Even from the distance, Inaho can tell the water that drips down from his side runs crimson.

An outstretched hand and a risky plan couldn’t save them this time. They impacted too hard against the shore.

It’s too late to save either of them now.

But as he hears Slaine’s voice, Inaho’s stirred into action again. He drags himself out of the rubble, every inch more agonizing than the last, until he finally splashes down on the shallow water. It only comes up a few inches, enough that he doesn’t fear drowning.

Though if he drowned, it would only cost him the precious few minutes he has left.

Slowly, slowly, he pulls himself across the shore towards the remains of the other kataphrakt- Tharsis, he remembers belatedly. Slaine lifts his head up a smidgen, as if to acknowledge Inaho’s presence, but he flops back down too quickly.

Even so, Slaine still manages the energy to reach one hand down towards Inaho. Once again, Inaho grabs the hand of his enemy and holds tight. He’s not letting go, not now. With some weak pushing and pulling, Slaine tumbles down to Inaho’s level, landing heavily on the sand. The shallow water splashes up around them, but neither of them mind much anymore.

Even so, Inaho strives to move Slaine to the shore, and they inch out of the water, too slow for Inaho’s liking. There’s not much time left anymore.

Only adrenaline keeps them moving now, but there’s not much left to give.

With one last drag, they collapse on the dry sand, exhausted.  They breathe heavily, broken only by wet coughs. Neither can move any farther.

The sand stains scarlet beneath them.

When Inaho regains enough strength, he lets go of Slaine’s hand. Slaine’s eyes flutter open for a moment to watch him, their brilliant turquoise dulled into a glassy blue-green. But all too soon, they slip closed.

Inaho understands the weakness, but he forces himself to perform one last task.  Though his body aches in protest, he musters up the energy to flip onto his back. The effort takes the little strength away from him, leaving only enough for him to reach for Slaine’s hand one last time.

Inaho can’t find it for too long. He tries to glance over, but his vision blurs around the edges. At last, the scarred hand settles in his and he can relax.

The blurriness doesn’t fade away as Inaho turns his gaze to the sky. It’s one of the nicest sunsets Inaho has ever seen. Brilliant red streaks azure, not a single cloud in sight.

For last sights, it isn’t the worst view.

“The sky…” Slaine rasps out. To Inaho’s surprise, it’s not bitter or sorrowful, just wistful. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Yeah…” Inaho tenses as Slaine coughs shakily, but he forces himself to keep speaking. “You haven’t seen it in years, have you?”

“Not since…” Slaine trails off, but they both what he means.  _Not since the attack on the UFE headquarters._ For too long, they sit in silence until the count continues. “Why…?”

Slaine asks the only question Inaho has no answer for. Why did he try to save Slaine Troyard? And now, why he did he try to show Slaine the sky one last time?

“I’m a murderer, a thief, a liar.” Slaine laughs his bitter laugh, but it’s barely huffs of air now. Time’s running out faster that Inaho can halt it. “There’s no reason to treat me so kindly on my death bed.”

Inaho chooses to ignore Slaine’s words as one forgotten fact resurfaces. Maybe it’ll be enough of an answer to satisfy Slaine.  “The sky… the colors are from Rayleigh scattering, not refraction, Slaine.” The name sounds soft on his lips, the kind Inaho could whisper over and over again and never get tired of speaking.

If only Inaho could have spoken it sooner.

“Are you… still trying to win… even now?” Slaine’s lips surely quirk up into a smile. Inaho tries to look once more, but his left eye has shut down completely. He must be beautiful, Count Slaine Saazbaum Troyard, captured in the sunset light like some ethereal being. He would be real, only Slaine and not the fabrication of an enemy Inaho’s seen too much.

“Give up… Orange… you’ve won.” Slaine laughs again, but it’s marred by shaky sobs. If Inaho could have reached a hand out to wipe away those tears, he might have. But now, it’s too late. He can barely feel Slaine’s hand in his. “I screwed up. For all… I could see, I failed to see… what was most important… to-“

Slaine breaks off in a fit of coughing, hardly there anymore. “Thank you… for showing me the sky… one last time…”

Inaho tries to grip Slaine’s hand tighter, but he has no energy left to give. “You aren’t dying yet, Slaine. Seylum… the princess asked me to save you. You have to live for her.”

“The princess…” Slaine speaks her title reverently, but it’s hardly more than an exhale. “I always… wanted to show her… the birds…”

 _She wanted to see them with you,_ Inaho longs to speak, but the words won’t come out. _She could only think of you when she saw them._

“Where’s… where’s the sky? I can’t see it… Orange…?”

“I’m right here. I’m right here Slaine.” Inaho’s voice cracks as he speaks, and it finally occurs to him  _why._

No one has captivated Inaho’s attention like Slaine did. From the meeting in Tanegashima, he grew ever fascinated with Bat and the man behind the voice.

In this life they were enemies, but in a different life, a different world, they could have been friends. They would have made a perfect duo, brilliant and balanced in every way. Maybe, if they so desired it, they could have been more.

But they aren’t that Slaine Troyard and Kaizuka Inaho. They are Count Slaine Saazbaum Troyard and Ensign Kaizuka Inaho. There is no escaping it, no matter what Inaho tries to do now.

They cannot be friends in this life, but if he can at least make amends now…

Slaine tries to pull his hand away, but Inaho holds on with what little strength he has left. “Please… let me go…”

“No.”

One last breath resounds, faint as the wind. “I should have known… even you… would never let me fly free… Inaho.”

At the sound of his name, Inaho can’t breathe. Slaine Troyard has never addressed him by name before. 

And as Slaine’s hand grows cold in his, Inaho’s chest tightens. Slaine will never speak it again.

Inaho’s world fades around him. His grip slackens around Slaine’s hand as he tries to take in the sky one last time. He can barely see it anymore.

This is the end for Kaizuka Inaho.

There’s no grand battle or sacrificial death; there’s only the icy hand resting on his and the dying rays of sun to keep him warm. No one is there to see him die. It’s better that way, he thinks. Yuki would probably scold him for being so foolish.

To think he could save Slaine… even at the brink of death…

Inaho finds a smile on his lips as one last bout of coughing wracks him. Without a doubt, blood stains them crimson now.

In the end, there’s no grandeur, no glory.

"Wait for me… Slaine…”

Inaho’s eyes flutter shut one last time.

He takes in a shallow breath and smiles a little wider.

_I’ll make things right…_

_In another life._

In the end, there’s nothing at all.

And as the last rays of sunlight cross the horizon, Kaizuka Inaho takes his last breath.

He dies alone.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry. Someone had to write it.
> 
> In other news, I'm finally getting around to cross-posting my fics (like this one) from my [tumblr](besthandwriting.tumblr.com) to here. I don't know when I'll have the motivation to get the rest posted here, but they will be up eventually.


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